Messenger Bag Contents

Inspired by a post on The Simple Dollar, I thought it would be fun to spill the contents of my trusty messenger bag for all the world to see.

As you may know, I commute by bicycle whenever the weather and my schedule permit, and sometimes even when they don’t! Since I work many places other than my office (home, coffee shops, local parks, etc.) I tend to keep most of what I need to work with me in my bag, since you never know what you might need when. I must admit, the eclectic mix of contents surprised even me. Read on to see what’s inside:

As you can see in the picture above (click for hi-res), I can cram quite a bit into my Dana Designs Ti messenger bag. I got the bag on ebay four or five years ago and even though I’ve thought of replacing it recently, as it’s starting to show some wear and tear, I simply can’t find anything else I like as much as this one!

Now for the grand list: (starting bottom center and moving counter-clockwise)

• Toshiba Laptop w/ extended-life battery
• Laptop power adapter
• Audio cables - mini-DIN to mini-DIN and mini-DIN to RCA (useful for connecting the laptop to other audio systems)
• Note pad - for those times when I’m feeling a little “analog”
• Blackberry Curve 8330 - don’t leave home without it!
• Plantronics bluetooth headset
• Bluetooth GPS receiver
• Reading materials - I’ve always got an assortment of books, magazines, etc. in my bag. Pictured are The Green Bible, Tim Keller’s The Reason for God, the latest Christian Century, and some premarital counseling materials
• Garage door opener
• Bike Richmond map - in case I meet anyone who needs a copy
• Assortment of writing devices: 2 pens, a pencil, and a couple mini sharpies
• Anointing oil
• Spare 1GB microSD card with miniSD and full-size adapters
• 6′ low-profile ethernet cable
• Stapler
• SwissBit - Swiss army knife / 512MB USB drive
• Chap stick
• Band-aids
• Inexpensive Koss earbuds - the cat ate my good ones …
• Rubber bands
• $1.01 in pocket change - I don’t always keep this exact amount but I always have some stashed just in case
• Spare Blackberry battery
• Business cards - they make good bookmarks too
• Microfiber cleaning cloth
• LED flash light
• Paper clips
• Mini USB cable - for the Blackberry, GPS, and anything else that might need it!

Just for the record, all of this is in my bag intentionally, not just because I put it in there one day and have never taken it out. And yes, I was an Eagle Scout (be prepared!) It’s amazing how often I find myself making use of some of these things, even the more unusual ones.

The bag, packed with all of the goodies pictured, weighs exactly 15 pounds. While it may seem like a lot all listed out like this, note that many of these things weigh just a few ounces each. Also note what’s not here: scads of papers, crumpled up receipts, and so on. I make it a point to file such things quickly (or eliminate them entirely) so I don’t have to worry about lugging them around.

Keeping the contents of my bag streamlined allows for plenty of extra room to add things like a light jacket or lunch and snacks when I’m heading out on the bike.

So there you have it: the mystery of my messenger bag, exposed.

I don’t want this to come across as an “I’m just putting something on my blog because ohmygod I haven’t posted in ages!” kind of effort (even if at some level it may be), so here are a couple quick updates. In particular I’ll try to highlight some of the things I’ve posted about “recently.”

• My parents are doing quite well after their house fire last year. I just received word from them today that their construction loan has finally gone through. They are rebuilding on the same piece of land their old house was on, but starting literally from the ground up. They hope to start digging footers for the new construction next week (mid-May) and to be in the house by fall.

• The new Honda Insight has launched, to pretty good reviews I might add, but I’m still not convinced. It is about 4/5 of a Prius at a lower price, both size and mileage-wise. While the $20k price is attractive, I still have significant reservations about the overall environmental impact of all those hybrids’ batteries, even if they do use less fuel.
• I survived my first time through all the major seasons of the church (especially Christmas and Easter) and have emerged unscathed as I prepare to celebrate my 1 year anniversary of being a pastor on June 15th. It’s incredibly hard to believe it’s been almost 11 months, though I guess if you judge by the continually decreasing frequency of my blog posts, it’s not all that surprising.
• Part of the blame for my lack of blogging should also go straight to Facebook and Twitter. The more I seem to get sucked into these social-media oriented sites, the less I create original content for my blog. I do intend to remedy that though …

Rather than inundate you with more semi-interesting updates, I’ll leave you with news about this blog:

No, I am not abandoning it. Yes, I am actively planning new content!

• A review of my recent “road test” of a 2009 Nissan Versa. I’ve had my eye on the Versa as a possible next car for a while now, so you might be interested in my impressions after spending 350 miles with one.
• Some tech updates on “recent” purchases - Lenovo S10 netbook, Nikon D60 Digital SLR camera, and several others.
• Some insight into bicycle commuting - continuing the irony that this gearhead car-blogger often doesn’t even drive a car unless I can’t avoid it!
• A revew of Phyllis Tickle’s The Great Emergence - a wonderful, insightful (and relatively short) book about “how Christianity is changing and why.”
• A semi-regular feature for posting recipes, particularly for the soups and breads I make every Monday night as part of the dinner and conversation group I host.

So, there you go … proof that <montypythonvoice> I’m not dead yet! I’m getting better! </montypythonvoice> Stay tuned for new content coming soon, and feel free to leave your suggestions for interesting posts in the comments section!

Sunday, February 14, when I was 6 years old, we were sitting in worship when one of the ushers came forward and told my family we needed to step outside for a moment. He told my parents that our house was on fire. A neighbor had called the fire department and, knowing where we went to church, called the church. (Ah, the days before cell phones.) We returned home to find that the fire had mostly been extinguished, but one end of our house was a burned-out shell and much of the rest of the house suffered smoke damage.

Sunday, November 30, 20 years, 9 months, and 16I days later, as my parents were driving home to Virginia after visiting my wife Becky and me in Indiana for Thanksgiving, it happened again.

My parents had only been on the road for about an hour when the call came in, this time via cell phone. A neighbor had seen the fire and called 911, but did not know how to reach my family. Another neighbor saw the fire and called yet another neighbor still, who had my Dad’s number.

Receiving the news that your home is on fire is a devastating thing that no one should ever have to bear, even once, let alone twice, in their lives. Yet this actually makes three times for my family. Let me explain: this past March, as high winds whipped across southwest Virginia, a pine tree snapped and fell on a power line, igniting a forest fire. Hardly a month after the 20-year anniversary of our first house fire my parents got word while they were away on a Boy Scout activity that the woods surrounding their house were ablaze. Upon returning home they discovered the house was safe, but the fire had come within 6 feet of a large propane tank and their recently-built barn.

This, the third time they received a call regarding fire and their home, has turned out to be the worst by far.

Pictures

My brother, who lives nearby, got to the house shortly thereafter and took the first pictures we were able to see. Though you couldn’t see much for all the steam and smoke, you can tell that the house was lost.

(The full photo album, including hi-res versions of these pictures, is available here.)

Later conversations with firefighters revealed that the house was almost totally engulfed when they arrived. Surprisingly they were able to save the barn, which sits only 8-10 feet from the house.

My parents finally made it back to what used to be their home at about 10pm. It was then that it began to fully sink in the totality of the destruction.

The next morning, upon returning to the house with some friends, they found that the fire had re-ignited, as if to add insult to injury. The fire department was called once again to put out the flames that threatened what little was left standing from the day before.

Looking through the pictures that my parents have shared, every now and then I get a brief flashback from our first fire. I don’t remember much at all from then, but something about seeing the charred shell of the house, all of the ashes and rubble, occasionally jolts my memory.

It is difficult to look at the pictures and try to remember the way things used to look. Where once stood my childhood bedroom there is now nothing but ash and the springs from a mattress. No walls, no furniture, just destruction.

Appliances were piled on the back deck, the deck which I remember helping my family and friends build.

My father’s office, filled with computers, monitors, printers, and countless parts, is just a collection of disfigured metal shelving and computer cases. Anything plastic seems to have simply vanished.

Though they still await the final inspection, it is believed the fire may have begun around the propane furnace. We found out the neigbor who called 911 came to the house and knocked on doors and windows to see if my parents were at home, and turned off the propane at the tank, which may have helped to save the barn from burning as well.

My mother’s car, which was parked next to the house, was also damaged. A side window busted, the windshield cracked, and the side mirror melted. Both sets of keys to their third vehicle were all inside the house as well.

What’s next

Now begins the long process of greiving, recovering, and rebuilding. Mom and Dad have been surrounded with love and support from the many communities they are a part of, especially their church. Many of their friends from church walked with them through this 20 years ago.

They are staying nearby with friends for the time being, and intend to find a house to rent before Christmas. Since they had been visiting us they had more with them than they might have been able to save otherwise, including their laptop computers, quite a few clothes, and their dog.

The insurance company has been very helpful thus far and based on past experience will likely continue to be. After a final inspection of the house my parents will begin to literally sift through the ashes in search for anything that might be salvageable. It won’t be an entirely unfamiliar undertaking for them, though this time there will be much less that is saved.

I am thankful that so many people have showered them with support, love, and prayers in the midst of this tragedy, especially with being so far away myself. I anticipate going home at Christmas; I don’t know that there’s much that me being there now would accomplish. Becky and I have spent a lot of time on the phone with them the past couple days and I’m sure we’ll continue to talk with them a lot, giving them both support and listening ears to process things.

Many people have expressed a desire to help out somehow. We’re still working on figuring out what help is needed and how all of us can best lend our support. One of the things my parents have suggested is that anyone who might have old pictures of our family, either from family events, Boy Scouts, school, marching band, etc. can scan those pictures for them as a way to begin to piece together some of the irreplacable things that were lost. As I find out more ways to help, I’ll be sure and post them here on my blog, on facebook, and maybe even on twitter.

The “God Question”

Being a person who spends quite a bit of time thinking about faith, God, and life, it seems unsurprising that I’ve thought a lot about where God is in the midst of such tragedy.

It is tempting to see events such as this as divine retribution for things we’ve done wrong, or a sign of some sort. Some might even see it as a positive gift from God, a chance to cleanse and purge all of the excess stuff from life and start anew. Both of these assume that God was behind this tragedy, that God caused it for some divine purpose.

But that’s not how I see it. I don’t think God causes tragedy. I don’t think God causes babies to die, car accidents to take the lives of teenagers, hurricanes and tsunamis to destroy entire cities, or propane furnaces to malfunction and burn down houses. I simply don’t believe that is how God works. The world we live in is an imperfect place where unexplainable tragedies are an unfortunate part of life.

The way I see it, when such awful things happen, God may not be the force that causes them, but God is actively walking beside us, supporting us, and helping us to rise from the ashes. It is with the help of God that people are able to forgive someone who killed one of their family members. It is by God’s work in our lives that we are able to find a kernel of hope in the midst of great loss. God is with us in the darkest hour and points us toward the light of a new day. God accompanies us as we sort through the rubble, cries with us in our pain, and gives us strength to face tomorrow.

No one deserves tragedy. Not my family, not yours, no one. It is my hope and prayer that in the midst of this tragedy, as in all tragedies, that those of us who are hurting, mourning, and feeling helpless will feel the presence of the Divine Comfortor with us, walking with us into tomorrow, whatever tomorrow may bring.

As a missional-minded Christian I find myself thinking about how to reach out to and help those who experience poverty on a daily basis. Over and over again the bible speaks out against systemic poverty. There’s recognition that poverty is a part of the ongoing brokenness of humanity, but there’s also the promise that in God’s Kingdom injustices such as poverty will be overcome. Still, poverty remains a pervasive problem in the world today.

Most of us in the middle class don’t often come face to face with poverty. From time to time we may feel “broke” because we have over-extended our finances and over-stretched our credit. But in my opinion that’s different than being truly poor.

There are a number of personal finance books out these days with titles like You’re Broke Because You Want To Be that remind people of this in very frank ways. And while I think there’s some room for sensitivity in helping people to recognize how their consumerism-driven habits are wreaking havoc on their long-term financial sustainability, these forthright books do have the upside that they bring to light some of the differences between being broke and experiencing “real” poverty. Trent over at The Simple Dollar blog writes on this quite well.

I think that over time we can become disillusioned into thinking that we know what poverty is like, especially during times of “economic turmoil” like we are currently experiencing. But unless we’re put in situations where our lives cross paths with those who are impoverished we can only speculate and pretend we know what it’s like.

This is especially troublesome for Christians. As we try and find ways of participating in God’s work towards the continuing realization of the Kingdom, we are called to reach out to those who are hungry, thirsty, and without shelter. This inevitably includes the poor. Yet how can we reach out to those we don’t even know or ever encounter? How can we provide any sort of real help to those who are poor if we don’t also seek to establish relationships with them?

I’ll be honest in saying that I personally don’t have a lot of experience with those who are truly poor. I’ve helped with service projects, food pantries, and disaster response trips that sought to help those who were deeply in need, but even then there was little opportunity for real relationship. Now, in my work as a pastor, I occasionally come face-to-face with poverty in very real ways, but it’s not very often and it’s rarely because I have taken the initiative to reach out to those who are poor.

If Christians are to engage in working towards God’s Kingdom then at some point we will have to start taking real steps towards alleviating poverty. Groups like Sojourners and the ONE Campaign have been campaigning for a while now to fight poverty and are working to raise poverty-related issues during this year’s election. Next week I’ll be preaching with an eye towards the election and poverty will surely be one of the Kingdom-related issues I’ll encourage people to think about as November 4th draws near.

So what experiences do you have with poverty? In what ways have you been active in helping to alleviate the plight of the poor? How can we as Christians find real and tangible ways of reaching out to those who suffer in poverty in our communities and around the world? Feel free to share any of your thoughts in the comments …

However, it seems the rest of our country is sold on the idea, including the automakers that sell to our market. In the past few weeks quite a few announcements have been made about more hybrids that are getting ready to roll down the assembly line: the Chevy Volt, the (new) Honda Insight, and the Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid. Call me skeptical, but I’m still not convinced …

2011 Chevy Volt

The one that seems to have people most excited is the Chevy Volt. Due out for the 2011 model year,  Chevy is hoping to break new ground in the hybrid market with the first mass-marketed plug-in hybrid. The Volt is different from other hybrids on the market now in the fact that the gas engine is not connected to the drive wheels in any way, but instead only serves as a generator to recharge the batteries and supply electricity to the electric drive motors. By plugging in the car over night, it is capable of driving up to 40 miles on electricity alone. Therefore if your average daily driving amounts to less than 40, you could go for long periods of time without ever using any gas.

While this sounds great at first blush and is definitely innovative there are some issues that could throw a wrench in whether the Volt is ultimately a success. The first is its cost. Early estimates show that the Volt could cost up to $40,000. That’s a lot of money for a 4-door 5-passenger Chevy. The company is currently lobbying congress (ack) to give Volt buyers a sizable tax credit for their green-ness that would help offset this initial cost, but that still remains to be determined.

A technical issue that could come into play is the fact that if buyers were to spend several months only making short trips and never using the gas engine they could run into gasoline stability problems. Without added stabilizers, gasoline only has a limited “shelf-life” before it begins to deteriorate. As gasoline ages and breaks down it becomes dirtier when it is combusted and provides less energy. In worst-case scenarios Volt drivers could find themselves with a tank full of fuel that produces excess pollution, causes the car’s engine to run poorly, or even not run at all!

Finally, there are also environmental implications of such a plug-in hybrid. While GM estimates that it would only cost 40 cents per day to charge the Volt, thus making it much less expensive than powering it by gasoline, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is more environmentally friendly. When charging from the electrical grid most of the environmental impact is transferred from the car itself to the power plant that generates the electricity. If everyone were to start using plug-in hybrids the electrical infrastructure would need to be updated and potentially cause more pollution from power plants. I therefore repeat my mantra that “hybrids aren’t as green as you think they are.”

My final comment on the Volt is that it truly embodies “love it or hate it” styling. You can see more pics using the link above, but I’ll simply say that I fall into the “hate it” category.

2010 Honda Insight

Set to be officially launched at the 2008 Paris auto show, the new Honda Insight is supposed to be on the road in April 2009, probably as a labeled as a 2010 model.  Honda has revived the Insight name from its first foray into the hybrid world.  The original Insight was actually the first hybrid sold in the US and remains one of the most fuel-efficient vehicles you can buy, despite the fact it has been out of production for several years. The new Insight is being billed as Honda’s “Prius fighter”, though I would call it more of a Prius clone. If you swapped the front grille and emblem you could probably convince people this was the next-generation of the Prius.

The Insight will likely be a bit smaller than the Prius, and is supposed to undercut it in price. Some reports have said it will debut with a starting price of $19,000. Of course, that’s before dealers mark up the price because if the fact that everybody will be clamoring for one.  Honda is hoping to sell somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000 Insights annually, so prepare yourself to start seeing these everywhere.

2009 Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid

Why would I include the new Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid in this lineup? For two reasons: It is significant because it marks Mercedes’ first foray into hybrids. Prior to this model, Mercedes-Benz was sticking to super-efficient diesels, which they happen to do very well. In fact, the S-series diesel model returns approximately 40mpg, whereas the S400 Hybrid is expected to get about 30mpg. Ah, but diesels aren’t as sexy as hybrids, despite the fact that most other world markets have been gravitating towards them for decades.

The second reason I include this car is because it marks the first mass-market application of lithium-ion batteries in a hybrid. Lithium-ion batteries are more expensive but much more energy-dense than nickel metal hydride batteries, which are used in most other hybrids. That means that lithium-ion battery packs can be much smaller and lighter while producing the same performance. I must admit I don’t know as much about lithium-ion’s environmental impact as compared to nickel metal hydride, but I’m sure there is still some impact to be considered when taking into account the overall impact of the vehicle during it’s lifespan.

Make no mistake, this car marks the beginning of a new era of hybrids. In a few years I expect that all hybrids will be using li-ion batteries, or even something that is developed that will surpass them. Making battery packs lighter and more powerful will allow for increased efficiency which might make hybrids a more compelling environmental argument than they are now.

My take

I’m still not sold on hybrids. Yeah they have cool technology. Yeah they’re more fuel efficient than gasoline-only powered cars. But in my mind there are better, more environmentally friendly ways of reaching the same efficiency. I remain a big fan of diesel technology, in part because most modern diesel-powered cars can easily run on bio-diesel, unlike gas-powered cars and E85 (ethanol).

I’d love to see companies start selling cars like the 65-mpg Ford Fiesta ECOnetic here in the US, however the facts that their engines are built overseas and the dollar is so weak means that they aren’t economically viable. One vehicle I will be watching closely is the 2010 Volkswagen Rabbit TDI, due here in the Fall of ‘09. While it’s not as efficient as the VW Golf (aka Rabbit) BlueMotion for the European market that gets about 62pmpg, it should still return mid 40’s to low 50’s depending on driving conditions.

Now the question is how long can our family get by with only one car, and can we wait for automakers to get around to selling more small efficient diesel cars here in the U.S.? I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

What’s your take on the seemingly ever-increasing hybrid hype?

This past Sunday after worship, the Richmond Church of the Brethren (CoB) celebrated the launch of its new website! This site has been months in the making, as it was in progress for quite some time before I became pastor in June.  You can check out the site to see all its exciting bells and whistles, including online calendars, a “conversations” blog, and online newsletter distribution. Since I did quite a bit of work getting the site finalized and ready for launch, I’ll talk about some of the more technical details of the site in the rest of this post.

The new site was set up and is hosted by Summersault database driven websites. There are several connections between Summersault and Richmond CoB, so they were a very logical choice. Summersault set up our server space, configured Drupal, an open-source content management system, and set up our preferred theme with some graphic-design tweaks. From that point the site was delivered to us to do any final design tweaks and to create the content.

(Working on getting this new site ready to launch has been another one of the reasons new content has been so sparse on my blog lately. Of course, buying a house may have something to do with my recent busyness as well.)

Calendar Setup

While Drupal has quite a bit of built-in event scheduling and calendaring functionality, both myself and the church’s office manager are committed Google Calendar junkies. While Drupal plays relatively nice with GCal, it isn’t quite as easy to use for recurring events, rescheduling things, and interfacing with other services and devices.

In the end we decided to use a combination of Drupal’s built in calendar and Google Calendar. Special events are scheduled using the Drupal site, while recurring events and more mundane things like when the church office is open, etc. are scheduled via GCal. Since Drupal exports an actively updated .ics file that GCal can subscribe to, I was able to set up a calendar display page that uses an embedded Google Calendar to display both sets of events at the same time. It sounds somewhat cumbersome, but at this point it’s the best compromise we were able to set up. For end users I think the experience will be relatively transparent.

CSS Tweaking

In addition to figuring out the finer details of how we were going to use the calendar, we also ran across several aspects of our chosen template that we wanted to tweak or change. Since a number of people in our community use Linux, I wanted to do what I could to make sure the site looked good on both Windows and Linux browsers. Since many Linux installs don’t include the same fonts as Windows, some aspects of the layout needed to be adjusted to make sure things lined up correctly when non-standard fonts were in use.

As I tweaked the CSS I also found myself banging my head against the wall a few times as I learned some of Drupal’s eccentricities. While Drupal is an amazingly configurable, adaptable, extensible piece of software, that sometimes results in complexity and a steep learning curve once you start to try and fiddle around “under the hood.” I made a few changes to the actual PHP and HTML code that makes up the template we’re using, but most of the changes I made were just in the CSS files.

What now?

Now that the site has officially been launched there will be some additional upkeep needed right from the start. We’re going to try and have an up-to-date list of upcoming worship themes and preachers on the “Worship” page, the calendar will need to be kept a bit more updated, and the Conversations blog will need attention if we really want it to be a place where conversation is taking place.

Because of Drupal’s expandable nature we have a number of options we may look into in the future for expanding the site. One popular possibility is to do some sort of sermon podcast, possibly with sermon texts available too. Another idea would be to have an area that those who help in various kinds of church leadership can use for collaborative planning and resource sharing.

Overall I’m excited about having the new site up and active. It will mean that my online attention will be stretched a little bit thinner with regards to blogging, now that I have 2 different sites vying for my writing attention. However I think that it may also be a generative experience, where I’ll be coming up with ideas that might not work just right for the church blog, but would be appropriate for this site. Only time will tell.

So what are you waiting for? Check out the new site! Let me know what you think, and if you’ve got any suggestions I’d love to hear them.

Serve God, Save the Planet is written by J. Matthew Sleeth, a former emergency room doctor, ER director, and chief of medical staff. He writes primarily out of his experience in evangelical Christianity, which is reflected by many of the theological assertions in the book. While I don’t necessarily agree with all of the theology he espouses, I do think that his core tenets of tying the care of creation with our love and service of God and fellow humans and are sound.

Though it’s not an incredibly long book (~250 pages total) it does cover a lot of ground. There are 16 chapters in all, so rather than summarize each one I’ll simply hit some of the book’s high and low points and provide some general reflections:

High Points

Style & Format - Sleeth writes in a very readable style, making this a book that can definitely be enjoyed by anyone who has a basic background in Christianity. As I mentioned there are 16 chapters, only 10-15 pages each, and 5 helpful appendices including a workbook, an energy audit, and an environmental to-do list. I could definitely see this book being used as the basis of an ongoing discussion group using the included workbook questions as a starting point.

Global emphasis - An important consideration when talking about the environment is that many of those who suffer the greatest from the damage that is done to the earth live in poorer countries around the world. Sleeth provides global insight into the problems of pollution and overconsumption through both facts and figures as well as personal anecdotes from medical misisons trips.

Practical - This book definitely appeals to my practical side. Even though many of the examples Sleeth shares from his own life are far more drastic than most people will be ready to undertake initially, he does provide other, smaller suggestions that are more easily incorporated into every day living. So while his story of living in a house that is the size of his previous garage may seem like an unattainable goal for some (depending on the size of their garages), his suggestions to use compact flourescent light bulbs, plant vegetable gardens, and hang laundry outside to dry are all more easily incorporated.

Inclusive - I think that too often we focus simply on the actions that are beneficial or detrimental to the environment instead of focusing on the attitudes behind those actions. Sleeth addresses this by grounding creation care in love of God and love of neighbor. He discusses how our attitudes about child-rearing, population control, and even our modern, western fixation on fitness and medical wellbeing can have a large impact on the natural world.

A call to simpler living - I have a theological and spiritual appreciation for simple living. The Church of the Brethren, the denomination I am a part of, has historically emphasized simple living in community as how we are called to live out our faith as Christians. As I read this book, much of what Sleeth said resonated with me not only because of my interest in the environment, but also because I value the quest to seek out a simpler way of life in the midst of modern busyness. What he says about rampant consumerism, our sense of entitlement, and our ignorance of how disproportionately wealthy we are compared to the rest of the world is not new. However, it is something we need to be reminded of often since our commercial-driven media is constantly trying to make us forget.

Low Points

Theological & biblical issues - As I mentioned earlier the theology of the book is more on the evangelical side, and I found my theological hacklesraised by some of the assumptions he puts forth as facts (like some issues of biblical authorship) and some of his choices regarding biblical translations. He uses the King James Version, which in my opinion is based on outdated scholarship and is often contextually irrelevant in the 21st century, and the New Living Translation, which is more of a paraphrase, for many of his scriptural quotations. While I had no trouble reading around these issues and didn’t see them as affronts to my own beliefs, others who have less familiarity or are less comfortable with the diversity of Christian belief may find it more difficult to do so.

Too broad? - I know that just moments ago I praised how inclusive Sleeth is when dealing with the issue of environmental care, yet I wonder if he’s possibly a bit too broad in his approach. Let me explain. Many of the things he writes about do have an impact on the environment, yet some are much more tangential than others. For example, he has entire chapters on his thoughts about television, work patterns and sabbath rest, family dynamics and child rearing, and even a chapter on childhood misconceptions and Santa Claus! While there are no doubt some environmental implications to each of these, the way he writes about them sometimes seems to lack the emphasis I might have hoped for.

Anecdotes - While Sleeth is a very readable writer and a pretty good storyteller, I sometimes found his anecdotes to be a bit much. Almost every chapter seemed to have at least one story from his experiences as an emergency room doctor, a medical missions trip, or his family life. While these stories often serve to prove a point, other times they are a bit graphic and shocking. Maybe that’s what he was going for, turning our stomachs to turn our thought patterns. I’m sure others may appreciate these stories more than I did, so this one I might just chalk up to personal preference.

To Read or Not To Read

Over all I found this to be a very enjoyable and thought-provoking book. I would suggest it to anyone who has an interest in learning how care for the environment can be a natural outgrowth of Christian belief. I also think this would be an excellent read for Christians who might be having a hard time figuring out why so many other Christians are jumping on the environmental bandwagon. They may even find themselves jumping on too!

Those who are already theologically-grounded Christian environmentalists may enjoy reading about Sleeth’s personal lifestyle changes in light of his conviction for creation care. Though I can’t recommend all of his theological nuances, I think his overall reasoning is very sound and I found myself greatly appreciating how he portrays saving the planet to be a natural outgrowth of serving God.

I realize that there are probably two types of people who might stumble across this site … those who are interested in the content I’m posting, namely articles about computers, cooking, cars, Christianity, and the occasional personal interest piece, and then there are those who are more interested in me as a person and follow this blog to see what I’m up to and what I’m thinking.

This post is mostly directed to this latter portion of my audience. I want to make sure you know that there are other ways that you can stalk me keep up with what I’m doing besides this blog.

For a long time I didn’t jump onto the bandwagon of friendly internet stalking social networking, however over the past 6 months I have decided to give it a go, and I must say that these days that the easiest way to follow along with my life is through these various mediums.

If you’re wondering about the repeated references to stalking, they are because of my inherent distrust and skepticism of the whole social networking scene. I think it’s really far to easy to simply seek out people you know and watch what they’re doing as they post to these networks and never actually take part in the “social” aspect of things.

But despite my skepticism, I figured that there might actually be some folks out there who are genuine in their intent to make this a social endeavor and that I might as well give it a try. So whether you’re just someone who wants to watch over my shoulder as I live out my life, or if you’re genuinely interested in networking with me, here are the places you can find me online:

Facebook

Just look for Matthew E. McKimmy. I’m part of the Virginia Tech and Dayton, OH networks. I tend to frequent Facebook the most out of all these social networking tools, so this would be a logical place to start if you want to connect.

Twitter

My username is mattmckimmy, and my Twitter home page is here. Twitter is notoriously flaky, though they seem to be getting a little bit better. I’ve never really fully understood how you’re supposed to “network” through Twitter, but I do post what I’m up to fairly regularly.

Plurk

Again my username is mattmckimmy and you can find me here. I think I would actually prefer Plurk over Twitter if I ever used either of them regularly. It’s much more user-friendly and easier to understand. I also like the different verbs they encourage you to use, much more so than Facebook’s standard “is.” However, as of yet I don’t know of anyone else who uses Plurk.

LinkedIn

Honestly I’m not sure how you’re supposed to find people on LinkedIn, but some friends invited me to join so I did. I do have a public profile anyone should be able to see. The idea behind LinkedIn is to leverage your social connections for business and career purposes, though I have yet to figure out how that would benefit me at this point.

Flickr

Honestly I don’t really use Flickr, I only have 2 photos uploaded there at the moment. Even so, there is a possibility I might begin to use it more regularly. I have a number of friends who are on Flickr, and when it comes to social networking peer pressure is a powerful thing. If you want to check in and see if I’ve actually uploaded anything, check out my photostream.

And now for a confession … I cheat at social networking. Let me explain. Many of these social networking tools use little blurbs to let people know what you’re up to, how you’re feeling, etc. It seems silly to have to post the same sentiments or to have different, possibly conflicting messages in all these different places. So I use a great web service called Ping.fm to post to nearly all of them simultaneously. What does this mean for you? Well, it means that if you’re following me on Twitter and Plurk and watching my status updates on Facebook and LinkedIn, that you’re going to see the same message 4 times.

I do occasionally post something to one of them that isn’t duplicated elsewhere, however that’s probably not the norm. If you’re interested more in the networking aspect of social networking and not just the stalking, then Facebook is the primary place I tend to do that. That’s not to say I wouldn’t use these other services more regularly if people I knew also used them, however at this point most everyone I want to connect with seems to be on Facebook.

So how do you use social networks? Are you a silent facebook stalker? An avid twitterer? A flickr junkie? Do you have the same skepticism I have when it comes to using these tools to their fullest? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments …

Squash patties is one of the best recipes I’ve found for making use of lots of squash. The recipe did not originate from me, I’ve merely tweaked it to my liking. Recently I whipped up a batch of these for a 100-mile radius potluck and I was able to use almost all local ingredients, including the squash & zucchini, eggs, onion, and cheese. The recipe is a little time intensive but it’s not difficult, and it makes a lot! Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Squash Patties

Ingredients

Approx. 8 small to medium yellow squash or 3 large zucchini (~8-10 cups shredded)

2 medium yellow onions

1-2 cloves garlic (to taste)

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

1 cup flour (or more if needed)

3/4 cup cornmeal

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2 cup cheese (I prefer something with some zing, like sharp cheddar)

Black pepper to taste

Vegetable oil (or other oil or fat for pan frying)

Instructions

1. Shred onion and squash, add salt, and drain in a colander for at least 30 minutes or until no longer wet.
2. In a large bowl, mix together squash and onion with all the remaining ingredients except the oil. You’re looking for a somewhat wet, batter-like consistency. If it is too wet, add a little more flour.
3. Heat oil in a skillet (non-stick recommended) over medium heat. Drop the mixture by about 2 tablespoonfuls into the pan and flatten slightly (a disher works great for this.) Cook ~4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Repeat until finished.

These are best enjoyed when still warm and a little crispy, though they do reheat well. I enjoy mine with sour cream and a little hot sauce. Mmmmm.

I’ve uploaded a few more photos to my AC Facebook album, sorry Flickr folks I haven’t sent any your way. I’m going to try to get some better (non-camera phone) pics to upload soon. Also, if you’re interested in more general reports of what is happening here at Conference, along with some more pictures, be sure to check out the official Annual Conference news page which is updated every evening.

One part of Annual Conference is the numerous insight sessions that take place on various topics of interest. I enjoyed going to a couple such insight sessions today, titled “Sharing the Good News Within and Beyond our Communities of Faith” and “Engaging our Communities with Jesus.” However one of my favorite events today was an opportunity tonight for those of us who are interested in the emergent church conversation to get together for our own conversation.

This was a special opportunity for me to sit down with people from across the country who are interested in some of the same trains of thought that I am interested in. I read many blogs that deal with the emergent church and I’ve really enjoyed reading the Emergent Brethren blog over the last several months. After tonight I’m going to try much harder to become a regular part of that online community as we work together to see what the emerging church looks like in our various Brethren contexts.

I’ve also purchased a stack of books (many of which are emergent or missionally oriented) and I hope to review some of them here in the coming months. I really do think that the emergent / missional conversation and movement is where the church is headed in order to be relevant and authentic in our society and culture. I see many ways in which the Church of the Brethren, both historically and currently, resonates with this supposedly “new” movement. Expect to hear more from me about this in the future!

One last note about my dining adventures while here in Richmond - last night we ate at the Strawberry Street Cafe and it was wonderful. It’s located in an area of Richmond near Monument Ave. known as “the fan” and has been a favorite eatery there for the last 30 years. Since I normally live quite a bit farther from the sea I took the opportunity to sample some of their crab-based dishes (crab soup, crab quiche, and crab cakes) and they were all splendid. I also got to taste some of their other offerings, all of which were quite good as well. I would definitely recommend it as a nice locally-owned place to check out if you ever happen to find yourself in Richmond, VA!